My success is developing local food.
Sarah Rykal is combining her passions for gardening, food, family and friends to cultivate a career in local food development.
From the time she was old enough to hold a garden trowel, Sarah has been enamored with land, nature and its ability to provide sustenance.
"There is something very magical about working with the land to produce the food that sustains you, and I notice how my family and friends are always appreciative of the food I grow for them," she says.
Concerned that an appreciation for food and the land is being lost in conventional agriculture, Sarah enrolled in the Sustainable Community Development graduate program and is focusing her studies on developing local food sources.
"More often than not, people don't know where their food comes from," Sarah notes. "Because of this, I feel like we've lost an appreciation for not only the food we eat, but also for the farmers who grow it."
Sarah is working to bring together people and organizations, including campus Dining Services, the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, St. Croix Buy Fresh Buy Local, the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service, the St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development as well as local and regional food distributors. Her goal: to create a self-sufficient model for bringing local food to campus for students, faculty and staff.
Sarah credits many for her success, including Juliet Tomkins, an agricultural economics faculty member, and Dr. Kelly Cain, director of the St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development.
"Their enthusiasm for this important issue has helped to affirm my commitment to local food growing," Sarah says. "I'm a firm believer that everything is interconnected; I feel the more communities are able to realize their interconnectedness, the more sustainable they will become."
